NBA Hall of Fame center Bill Walton, who died of colon cancer last month, was the best player in the world at his peak. As described in David Halberstam’s book The Breaks of the Game, a merely somewhat healthy Walton led the Portland Trail Blazers to an NBA championship in 1977, defeating fellow former all-everything UCLA center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar‘s Los Angeles Lakers and then a loaded Philadelphia 76ers squad along the way. Walton’s dominance in college and his brief but brilliant professional peak showcased a revolutionary style of play that was ahead of its time. Blazers coach Jack Ramsay, reflecting on how Walton had helped neutralize future Hall of Famers Julius Erving and Doug Collins, heaped superlatives upon his singular star: “I’ve never coached a better player. I’ve never coached a better competitor. And I’ve never coached a better person than Bill Walton.” 

Walton was a unique center, particularly during his short prime in the late 1970s, when the league still lacked a three-point line and centers played very close to the basket. In a period when centers were considered to be scorers first and everything else second, Walton scrambled the formula. Unlike prior behemoths who banged in the low post and scored easy buckets, he functioned as a passing hub for the team offense, a role that centers were not traditionally known for, as well as a mobile stopper and top-tier shot blocker on defense. This led to one of the most underdog triumphs of all time for the Trail Blazers, who consisted primarily of scrappy role players outside of Walton and leading scorer Maurice Lucas.